A quantitative understanding of living cells will require methods to perturb and control the activities of their constituent proteins at fine spatial and temporal resolutions. By measuring responses to precise perturbations, predictive models of cellular networks can be tested and iteratively improved.
Genetic circuits provide a method to design and control perturbations, which contributes to the development of predictive models of cellular networks. Genetic circuits have been built that encode functions that are analogous to electronic circuits, and genetic programs have been built by combining multiple circuits. An understanding of the activity of genetic elements is important for the design and development of such circuits.
Disclosed herein are new methods of determining expression levels of test circuits, particularly expression levels of regulatory protein-genetic element pairs.